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Here you’ll find all the latest updates for the New Zealand’s Women Provincial Rugby Competition known as the Farah Palmer Cup.

The inaugural Women’s National Provincial Championship was contested in 1999, with 14 teams taking part originally.

In 2000 the number of teams increased to 18. The Championship was contested across divisions – originally a first division and regional divisions, which evolved into two divisions and continued in this format until 2005. Throughout this time the WPC was played under different guises – the Women’s National Provincial Championship, the Lion Foundation Cup, the Women’s Championship, and the Women’s Competition.

In 2016, the Women’s Provincial Championship was renamed the Farah Palmer Cup in recognition of one of the most iconic figures in women’s rugby.

For the 2018 tournament, Taranaki has been added into the Championship league. Congratulations to Taranaki for making it back into the FPC for 2018. The tournament kickoffs on Saturday 1st September and each team in their league will play the other teams in their league once. There will also be one crossover match for each team during the tournament which will be played in weeks two, four and six. The top four teams from each league will go into a semi-final playoff and then the finals will be held on Saturday 20th October.

Farah Palmer is a global women’s rugby icon, having played 35 Test matches for the Black Ferns and represented Otago, Waikato and Manawatu at a provincial level. In 2014, Palmer was inducted to the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

She said it was a huge privilege to have the women’s provincial championship named after her: “It’s very humbling to have the competition named in my honour. I had to have a real think about accepting it because rugby is a team sport and there are lots of women and men who have gone before me that really helped women’s rugby develop. But then I thought it is a great honour and I am happy to be acknowledged this way.” – All Blacks website.